WICHITA — Exchange Place LLC and DGL Investments LLC have settled with their insurance company over 2007 damages by copper thieves to Exchange Place at Douglas and Market.
“It was extensive,” Real Development partner Dave Lundberg says of the damage, which he estimates was in the $10 million range. “Just about everything in the building, quite frankly.”
Real Development is developing the Exchange Place project.
A previously postponed trial was scheduled to start in Sedgwick County District Court on Tuesday.
Lundberg says he’s been in negotiations with Phoenix-based Berkley Insurance since the vandalism occurred.
“One of the things the insurance company said is, ‘You’re going to gut the building anyway.’ ”
Lundberg can’t discuss the settlement, though he says it was nowhere near what the damage was.
“It allows us to fix what has to be fixed in order to convert it to (a) residential project,” he says. “We’re going to wait until the project’s finally approved until we know what the final use is.”
Lundberg says the Exchange Place project is separate from Real Development’s Wichita Executive Centre project, which his company is refinancing in order to pay vendors.
He says the Exchange Place insurance money can’t be used on the other project.
Still, it’s a good start to the week for Lundberg, who has been sick with pneumonia for the past three weeks.
“We got an insurance settlement, and my pneumonia went away.”